1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ink-jet recording material which utilizes an ink-jet recording system, has no cockling and good ink-absorption property, and to be used for printing proof. More specifically, it relates to an ink-jet recording material for proof having similar surface feeling to that of a printing paper which is an object of proof, providing an image printed by an ink-jet which is similar looks to an image printed on a printing paper, and is suitable for printing proof.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, according to remarkable progress in an ink-jet printer or a plotter, a full-color and finer image can be obtained easily.
An ink-jet recording system is to carry out recording of image, letters, etc., by adhering a fine liquid drop of ink to a recording sheet such as paper by spouting ink due to various kinds of principles. An ink-jet printer or a plotter has been rapidly spread in recent years in various kinds of uses as a hard copy preparing device of an image information such as letters, various kinds of graphics prepared by a computer. In particular, a color image formed by a multi-color ink-jet recording system can give a recorded image similar to or the same as a multi-colored printed material by a plate-making system or a color photographic system. Moreover, for the use of preparing a small number of printed materials, it is now widely applying since the cost is cheaper than that prepared by the printing technique or photographic technique.
In recent years, a recording material utilizing an ink-jet recording system has now been frequently utilized as a printing proof for checking a finishing printed material before carrying out actual printing. Among the printers commercially sold recently, there is a printer to be used only for printing proof, and thus, it has been desired to develop a recording material suitable for such a use. Here, as an ink-jet recording material to be used for printing proof, it is most important to faithfully reproduce colors or surface feeling of a printing paper.
Also, color shade of a printing paper to be generally used for printing is not pure white and a certain color shade is generally provided to the printing paper depending on the purposes. On the other hand, to an ink-jet recording material, an ink-absorption property, color reproducibility, etc. are required, so that a pigment, adhesive and various kinds of additives to be used have been devised. As a pigment to be used, a porous synthetic pigment is frequently used to obtain good absorption property, and to obtain clear color of a resulting ink-jet image, its color shade becomes a specific white image derived from the pigment used.
An ink-jet recording material presently sold has quite different lightness, color degree or surface feeling from those of a printing paper which is an object to proof. Also, there are problems that fluctuation in color hue due to difference in light source or color fading by light with a lapse of time is remarkable, so that it is difficult to obtain satisfied quality, and thus, it is difficult to use the same as a material for printing proof.
A method of matching a color hue to a printing paper by adding a coloring agent has been known and disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 2001-277702. However, there is no description therein to use a water-resistant support, to use a colored pigment as a coloring agent and effects thereof on cockling, improvement in fading with a lapse of time and surface feeling.
Also, a method of adjusting surface feeling by specifying average surface roughness of an ink-absorption layer has been disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 2000-52649. However, there is no description about a surface roughness of a water-resistant support and it is difficult to match the surface feeling to a printing paper which is an object of proof only by the ink-absorption layer.
Also, a method of improving difference in glossiness or obtaining high glossiness and smoothness by specifying a center-line average roughness (Ra) of a water-resistant support has been disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publications No. 7-25133 and 2001-341409. However, there is no description to adjust surface feeling by specifying particle size of a colored pigment or matting agent or to use the same for proof.